Halls - with a library

[fredaflapjack]

Unusual request I know.

Do you know if any Universities that have a library within the Halls/Colleges? DC loves a library and anticipates spending quite a bit of time there.

So far we've got:
-various Oxbridge colleges
-various Durham colleges
-Aberdare Hall at Cardiff

We're really looking for insurance, so perhaps something more mid table? For example NTU Clifton is very close although not actually in the Halls.

Anyone got any bright ideas?

Thank you

Agree, dd had a flat as close to library as it was physically possible, by chance, but hardly make or break. (Useful when home wifi was dodgy though) . None of the Pollock study or social spaces was available during covid so to choose accommodation, let alone uni, and pay based on that as a priority is pretty strange. Also many departments in unis generally offer subject specific libraries and study space.

I’m pretty sure DD’s hall at Nottingham (Rutland) has a small library.

Also has she been in any uni libraries op? They are not like school , town or village libraries, or even what you see in movies,in reality they are often packed to the gunnels with hundreds of students , from early to very Late, it’s a very different animal to what she might be thinking.

Not a halls library but York has a Chemistry library in the Chemistry department so I'm guessing other departments have similar. Also probably better than a halls library because they'll have the relevant books.

Seems quite a restrictive criteria. Most campus unis will have halls where the library is a short walk. But the library at my university was not actually that quiet or good for reading in!

Campus universities are what you (she) want(s)!

I went to one already mentioned here and it was exactly what I wanted - lived in town in the second year but got back onto campus for my third year.

I didn't know thete wasn't much single sex accommodation any more - how does that work with halls with shared bathrooms 😕🤔 or has everything been made ensuite now (no wonder people complain about prices if so! When I was at university the limited ensuite accommodation was a bit mythical and alleged to be inhabited only by rich students from the Emirates...

Can I just add that obviously this isn't the sole criteria for her choices!

This is more of a "would be nice to have" and it's not always an easy question to find the answer to, and I knew you lot would have some thoughts.

Any campus university university would work, Loughborough for instance has halls on campus

Also bear in mind that after the first year on a nice campus with everything to hand, students will often be scattered far and wide in private rented accommodation and need to “schlep across town” for all educational needs anyway. Although many cities have great bus/tram services to facilitate that

Aberdare Hall library divine. We used to work there in our pyjamas with cocoa at night and with the doors open to the quad on a sunny morning. 1970s life.

Yes, so say my suggestion of Bristol, Wills Hall above, you start in mid Sept and by about November of that first term are having to sign up for your year 2 house with your friends in a place without library in the building for the following september of year 2. Wills Hall also has a chapel on site and fields and is really nice. 2 of my Bristol children went there.

I echo other posters re Uni libraries, which really aren't anything at all like "normal" quiet school/town libraries. During the "working" day, they're pretty hectic, lots of students around, lots of talking, lots of coming and going, etc. That's because it's where students go between lectures, ostensibly to "work" but in reality, also includes general socialising, watching youtube videos, listening to Spotify music, etc and don't forget the constant tapping of keyboards and hum of multiple copiers/printers! Yes, evenings and weekends are generally quieter but still not the "cosy"/silent type of place you'd imagine of a library where everyone is sat quietly reading books!

In fact, at my DS's uni, the ones who want to sit and quietly read a book tend to hang out in the Costa franchise!

It’s also worth remembering that there are no guarantees about which accommodation you will br allocated. You simply express a preference.
In the last couple of years fresher students in Bath, Bristol and Manchester (possibly more) couldn’t even get accommodation in the same city despite the university accommodation guarantees.

The music library that was based in Aberdare Hall is now closed unfortunately. The material has all been moved the general arts and social studies library- it’s only about a 2 minute walk away though!

Hulme Hall in Manchester had a sort of dusty old fashioned mini library / study room I remember. The main uni library as others have said isn’t very quiet! I bet loads have bootable study rooms.